DAILY PHOTO: Pécsi Synagogue by Night
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Andrássy út is a major boulevard in the Pest side of Budapest. It’s perhaps most well-known as the Embassy Row of Hungary. It’s delimited by Heroes’ Square (Hősök tere) on one end and Bajcsy–Zsilinszky út near Erzsébet tér on the other.
Love locks are padlocks that people hang in a public space as a sign of affection–often with a message written on them. Some are fancy; others are not. It reminds me of the Shinto prayer boards one sees in Japan. Love locks are a pretty common phenomena, particularly in Europe. The first ones I remember seeing were in Helsinki, but this wall is in Pécs, Hungary.
They’re building a new park area at the base of Buda Castle, in front of the Palace. It was open while we were in town for the holidays. (Apparently, it has opened and closed several times and is still not entirely complete–though it does look nice.) The opened-closed thing being tied to the electoral cycle. Though apparently a significant portion of the funds came from the EU rather than domestic tax revenues.
On the bank of the Danube, Pest-side just south of the Parliament building, there is an eery memorial consisting of an irregular row of shoes. The shoes are made of metal, but their brown rust looks like worn, brown shoe leather. It is in remembrance of the victims of the Arrowcross Militia who were shot there and left to topple into the river.
The Arrowcross Militia were Hungary’s Nazis. Hungary was allied with Germany at the beginning of World War II, but at one point (in 1944, as I recall) Hungary tried to break this alliance. Germany responded by taking over Hungary, and giving the Arrowcross (their fellow hardcore fascists) greater power and influence.